The Complete URL Optimization Checklist That Actually Increases Your Website Revenue

Your website gets 2,500 visitors monthly but only converts 47 of them into customers. Meanwhile, your competitor with worse content is above you for your main keywords and steals the sales you should be getting. If your URLs look like gibberish to search engines, you’re basically handing money to your competition.

Here’s what happens: Search engines can’t figure out what your pages are about because your URLs tell them nothing. When Google sees “yoursite.com/p?id=12345” instead of “yoursite.com/wireless-headphones-review,” it struggles to match your content with searcher intent. Pages that have a keyword on their URL have a 45% higher click-through rate, according to 2025 SEO statistics. For your business getting 2,500 monthly visitors, that’s the difference between 47 conversions and 68 conversions – potentially $3,200 extra revenue monthly.

Whether you run an e-commerce store, service business, or SaaS platform, your URLs either work for your bottom line or actively hurt it. You don’t need a complete website redesign to fix this. Most URL optimization can be done in a weekend with free tools, and you’ll see results within 30 days.

This all starts with understanding how search engines “see” your website. A huge part of that is your URLs. Those web addresses you type into your browser aren’t just random strings of characters. They’re a powerful tool that can make or break your SEO strategy.

Whether you’re a business owner, a blogger, an SEO professional, or just someone who wants to get more eyes on their website, URL optimization is a game-changer. Ready to dive in?

What Your Current URLs Are Actually Costing You

In simple terms, a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of a specific webpage or file on the internet. It’s what you type into your browser’s address bar to get to a particular website or page. You might know it as a “web address.”

Let’s break down the anatomy of a URL:

Protocol This is usually “https://” (the “s” stands for “secure”). It tells your browser how to communicate with the web server.

Domain Name This is the name of your website (e.g., “myawesomewebsite.com”).

Path This shows the location of the page within your website’s structure (e.g., “/blog/seo-tips”).

Slug This is the end part of the URL that’s usually related to your page’s content (e.g., “how-to-optimize-your-url”).

Now, why should you care about all of this? Because search engines like Google use URLs as one of many factors to understand what your webpage is about. A well-optimized URL gives them valuable clues and can help your page rank higher in search results.

Here’s the revenue impact Say you switch from “yourstore.com/products.php?cat=3&id=847” to “yourstore.com/wireless-bluetooth-headphones” and see your organic traffic increase 32% within 6 weeks. That translates to $8,400 additional monthly revenue from the same ad spend.

URLs That Kill Conversions vs. URLs That Drive Sales

Revenue-Killing URLs:

• yourstore.com/product.php?id=12345&cat=electronics
• yourservice.com/page1.html
• yourbusiness.com/services/Our_Main_Service_Page.aspx

Revenue-Driving URLs:

• yourstore.com/bluetooth-noise-canceling-headphones
• yourservice.com/emergency-plumbing-chicago
• yourbusiness.com/content-marketing-services

Say you run an HVAC company and change your service page URLs from “/services.php?type=heating” to “/furnace-repair-milwaukee” and increase service calls by 23% in 3 months. That’s $47,000 additional revenue from URL changes alone.

Good URL Examples:

https://www.examplewebsite.com/blog/seo-tips-for-beginners
https://www.examplestore.com/product-category/running-shoes
https://www.exampleagency.com/services/content-marketing

Bad URL Examples:

https://www.examplewebsite.com/p=12345
https://www.examplestore.com/PRODUCTS/SHOES/?sort=price
https://www.exampleagency.com/folder1/folder2/Our_Services_Content.html

Feature	Bad URL	Good URL
Length	https://www.example.com/product.php?id=123456&category=electronics	https://www.example.com/electronics/headphones
Keywords	None	“electronics,” “headphones”
Readability	Difficult to read and understand	Easy to read and understand
Relevance to Content	Unclear	Clearly indicates the page is about headphones in electronics

Actionable Tips to Supercharge Your URL Optimization

Alright, let’s get your URLs in tip-top shape! Here are some actionable tips to optimize your URLs for SEO.

1. Keep It Short and Sweet

Why It Matters Shorter URLs are easier for users to remember, type, and share. They also tend to look cleaner and more professional in search results.

Pro Tip Aim for URLs that are under 60 characters whenever possible.

Your visitors scan search results in under 3 seconds. The #1 result in Google has a CTR of 27.6% according to Backlinko’s analysis of 4 million Google search results. Short, descriptive URLs get more clicks than long, confusing ones.

Current Problem yourwebsite.com/blog/2023/march/ultimate-complete-guide-to-digital-marketing-strategies-for-small-businesses-in-2023

Revenue Solution yourwebsite.com/small-business-marketing-guide

Implementation If you’re on WordPress, install Yoast SEO (free) and it’ll warn you when URLs exceed 60 characters. For other platforms, manually check character count before publishing.

Business Impact Say you run a marketing agency and shorten your blog URLs. You could see organic traffic increase 28% over 4 months, which generates 156 additional leads worth $89,000 in new business.

What your visitors see Clean, professional URLs that clearly indicate page content, which increases trust and click likelihood.

Practical Example:

❌ Lengthy URL: https://yourwebsiteurl.com/blog/2023/04/09/ultimate-guide-to-url-optimization-tips-and-tricks

✅ Short URL: https://yourwebsiteurl.com/url-optimization-guide

✅ Even Shorter URL: https://yourwebsiteurl.com/seo-urls (If appropriate)

2. Use Hyphens, Not Underscores

Why It Matters Search engines view hyphens as word separators, which makes it easier for them to understand the individual words in your URL. Underscores can make the URL appear as a single word.

Google’s official documentation recommends using hyphens to separate words for better clarity for users and search engines. Google’s former head of spam Matt Cutts and current executive Gary Illyes have both confirmed that Google treats hyphens as word separators but sees underscores as connecting characters.

Current Problem yoursite.com/best_wireless_headphones_2024

Revenue Solution yoursite.com/best-wireless-headphones-2024

Implementation

• WordPress users get this automatically
• Other platforms need you to replace all underscores with hyphens in your URL slugs
• Time required is 5 minutes per URL

Business Impact Say you run an electronics store and update 47 product URLs from underscores to hyphens. You could see those pages’ average position improve from position 12 to position 7, which increases organic revenue by $12,400 monthly.

Scaling Strategy As you add new products or content, establish URL guidelines for your team to maintain consistency.

Practical Example:

❌ URL with Underscore: https://yourwebsiteurl.com/best_SEO_tools

✅ URL with Hyphen: https://yourwebsiteurl.com/best-seo-tools

3. Avoid Keyword Repetition and Keyword Cannibalization

Why It Matters Stuffing your URL with the same keyword multiple times can look spammy to search engines and may even confuse them about which page is the most relevant for a particular search query.

Pro Tip Use variations or synonyms of your target keyword throughout your site’s URLs instead of repeating it.

You think more keywords equal better rankings, but Google’s algorithm punishes obvious keyword stuffing. Research shows pages with keyword-stuffed URLs rank 34% lower than those with natural keyword usage.

Current Problem yoursite.com/seo-services/seo-optimization/local-seo-services-chicago

Revenue Solution yoursite.com/local-seo-chicago

Implementation

• Target one primary keyword per URL
• Use variations across different pages
• Focus on search intent, not keyword density

Business Impact Say you run a digital marketing agency and clean up your keyword-stuffed URLs. You could see your service pages climb from page 3 to page 1 for target keywords. Lead generation increases 67%, which adds $34,000 monthly revenue.

When budgets are tight Use free tools like Google Keyword Planner to identify primary keywords for each page, then create clean URLs that target just those terms.

Practical Example:

❌ Keyword Repetition: https://yourwebsiteurl.com/seo/seo-tips/seo-strategies

✅ Proper Use of Keywords: https://yourwebsiteurl.com/seo-guide/beginner-tips

✅ Variation: https://yourwebsiteurl.com/search-engine-optimization/strategies

4. Ditch the Stop Words

Why It Matters Stop words like “a,” “an,” “the,” “and,” “or,” and “but” don’t add much value to your URL from an SEO perspective. They can also make your URLs longer and less user-friendly.

Words like “a,” “an,” “the,” “and,” “or” dilute your URL’s keyword strength and add unnecessary length. SEO research consistently shows URLs without stop words perform better in search results.

Current Problem yoursite.com/how-to-choose-the-best-web-hosting-for-your-business

Revenue Solution yoursite.com/choose-best-web-hosting-business

Implementation

• Remove articles (a, an, the)
• Remove conjunctions (and, or, but)
• Keep prepositions only if they’re essential for clarity
• Review existing URLs and update high-traffic pages first

Business Impact Say you run a web hosting comparison site and remove stop words from 23 review pages. You could see organic traffic increase 31% over 8 weeks, which generates $19,600 additional affiliate revenue.

For new websites Set up URL guidelines before creating content to avoid needing mass updates later.

Practical Example:

❌ URL with Stop Words: https://yourwebsiteurl.com/seo-tips-and-tricks-for-beginners

✅ URL without Stop Words: https://yourwebsiteurl.com/seo-tips-tricks-beginners

5. Canonicalize for Consistency

Why It Matters If you have multiple URLs leading to the same page (e.g., with and without “www,” or with different tracking parameters), canonical tags tell search engines which version you prefer. This helps consolidate SEO value and avoids duplicate content issues.

If you have multiple URLs showing the same content, you’re splitting your ranking power. Google’s guidance emphasizes that proper canonical implementation can improve rankings significantly.

Current Problem

• yourstore.com/blue-running-shoes
• yourstore.com/running-shoes-blue
• yourstore.com/blue-running-shoes?utm_source=email

Revenue Solution Choose one primary URL and canonical tag the others to it.

Implementation

<link rel="canonical" href="https://yourstore.com/blue-running-shoes" />

Business Impact Say you run an online store and canonicalize 200+ duplicate product pages. You could see your main product URLs gain 40% more organic traffic, which increases sales by $28,000 monthly.

Technical Requirements Basic HTML knowledge or a developer (1-2 hours of work, $100-200 if outsourced).

Practical Example:

❌ Duplicate URLs:

https://yourwebsiteurl.com/blue-iphone-case

https://yourwebsiteurl.com/iphone-case-blue

https://www.yourwebsiteurl.com/blue-iphone-case?ref=123 (with tracking parameter)

✅ Canonical URL: <link rel="canonical" href="https://yourwebsiteurl.com/blue-iphone-case"/>

6. Keep Mobile URLs in Mind

Why It Matters With mobile search becoming increasingly important, having mobile-friendly URLs can improve your visibility in mobile search results.

Pro Tip If you have separate mobile URLs, include them in your XML sitemap to make sure search engines can find and index them.

72.6% of internet users will only use their smartphones (no desktop or laptop usage) to access the web in 2025. URLs that are hard to read on mobile get significantly fewer clicks.

Current Problem yourreallylongdomainname.com/extremely-long-page-title-with-too-many-words

Revenue Solution Keep total URL under 50 characters for mobile optimization

Implementation

• Use responsive design (no separate mobile URLs needed)
• Test URLs on mobile devices for readability
• Put your most important keywords at the beginning

Business Impact Say you run a local restaurant and shorten your menu page URLs. You could see mobile reservations increase 52%, which adds $15,800 monthly revenue.

Scaling Strategy As you grow, maintain mobile-first URL structure to capture increasing mobile traffic.

Practical Example:

❌ Neglecting Mobile URLs: Not including mobile URLs in your sitemap.

✅ Mobile-Friendly Practice: Add mobile URLs to your sitemap (e.g., https://m.yourwebsiteurl.com/blue-iphone-case).

7. Stay Future-Proof

Why It Matters Avoid using dates or time-sensitive information in your URLs, especially for evergreen content that you plan to keep updated. This way, you won’t have to change the URL every time you update the content.

URLs with dates make content appear outdated even when it’s current. Research consistently shows undated URLs get more clicks for evergreen content because they don’t appear outdated.

Current Problem yoursite.com/marketing-trends-2023

Revenue Solution yoursite.com/marketing-trends

Implementation

• Remove dates from evergreen content URLs
• Keep dates only for time-sensitive content (events, news)
• Use 301 redirects when changing existing dated URLs

Business Impact Say you run a business coaching site and remove dates from 34 advice articles. You could see those pages’ organic traffic increase 89% over 6 months, which generates 234 additional leads worth $117,000.

Customer communication impact Your visitors trust undated evergreen content more because it doesn’t appear outdated.

Practical Example:

❌ Dated URL: https://yourwebsiteurl.com/black-friday-2023

✅ Future-Proof URL: https://yourwebsiteurl.com/black-friday

8. Stick to Lowercase Letters

Why It Matters URLs are case-sensitive. Using uppercase letters can create multiple versions of the same URL, leading to confusion for search engines and potential duplicate content issues.

URLs are case-sensitive. “YourSite.com/SERVICES” and “yoursite.com/services” are different pages to search engines, which splits your SEO power.

Current Problem YourBusiness.com/Services/WEB-DESIGN

Revenue Solution yourbusiness.com/services/web-design

Implementation

• Convert all URLs to lowercase
• Set up 301 redirects from uppercase versions
• Configure server to automatically force lowercase

Business Impact Say you run a web design agency and fix case inconsistencies across 67 pages. You could see your average page position improve by 3 positions, which increases inquiries by 28%.

For established websites Use tools like Screaming Frog ($149/year) to identify case inconsistencies across your entire site.

Practical Example:

❌ URL with Uppercase: https://yourwebsiteurl.com/SEO-Guide

✅ URL with Lowercase: https://yourwebsiteurl.com/seo-guide

9. Minimize URL Parameters

Why It Matters Too many parameters can make your URLs look complex and less user-friendly. They can also make it harder for search engines to crawl and index your pages.

Pro Tip When possible, use static URLs with descriptive paths instead of dynamic URLs with lots of parameters.

Google’s 2025 crawling guidelines recommend keeping URL structures simple and avoiding overly complex URLs with multiple parameters.

Current Problem yourstore.com/products?category=electronics&sort=price&filter=brand

Revenue Solution yourstore.com/electronics/by-price

Implementation

• Use URL rewriting to create static-looking URLs
• WordPress users can use pretty permalinks (free)
• E-commerce platforms can enable SEO-friendly URLs in settings

Business Impact Say you run an online electronics store and convert 340 product category URLs from dynamic to static. You could see category page traffic increase 44%, which boosts revenue by $67,000 monthly.

Technical Requirements Most modern CMS platforms handle this automatically. Custom sites may need developer assistance (2-4 hours, $200-400).

Practical Example:

❌ URL with Excessive Parameters: https://yourwebsiteurl.com/products?category=tech&sort=price

✅ Static URL: https://yourwebsiteurl.com/tech-products/price

10. Use Descriptive URLs

Why It Matters Descriptive URLs give users a clear idea of what to expect on the page before they even click. This can improve click-through rates from search results.

Generic URLs like “page1.html” tell your visitors nothing about your content. Pages that have a keyword on their URL have a 45% higher CTR according to comprehensive SEO research.

Current Problem yoursite.com/item/12345

Revenue Solution yoursite.com/wireless-noise-canceling-headphones

Implementation

• Include primary keyword in URL
• Describe the page’s main benefit or topic
• Keep it readable by humans, not just search engines

Business Impact Say you run a SaaS company and change your feature page URLs from “/feature-1” to “/automated-email-marketing.” You could see trial signups increase 41%, which adds $23,700 monthly recurring revenue.

Which page on your website could you make more descriptive this week to capture more leads?

Practical Example:

❌ Non-Descriptive URL: https://yourwebsiteurl.com/item123

✅ Descriptive URL: https://yourwebsiteurl.com/wireless-headphones

11. Avoid Special Characters

Why It Matters Special characters (like %, &, ?, #) can cause issues with URL encoding and may not be handled consistently across different browsers and servers.

Characters like %, &, ?, # can cause URL encoding issues and make links appear broken or untrustworthy to your visitors.

Current Problem yoursite.com/services%20&%20pricing

Revenue Solution yoursite.com/services-pricing

Implementation

• Replace spaces with hyphens
• Remove special characters except hyphens
• Test URLs to confirm they load properly

Business Impact Say you run a consulting firm and clean up URLs with special characters across 28 service pages. You could see click-through rates from search results increase 33%.

If you can’t hire a developer Most website builders (Wix, Squarespace, WordPress) handle this automatically. Manual cleanup takes 2-3 minutes per URL.

Practical Example:

❌ URL with Special Characters: https://yourwebsiteurl.com/seo%20tips&tricks

✅ URL without Special Characters: https://yourwebsiteurl.com/seo-tips-tricks

12. Set Up 301 Redirects for Changed URLs

Why It Matters If you change a URL, a 301 redirect tells search engines and users that the page has permanently moved to a new location. This helps preserve SEO value and avoids broken links.

When you change URLs, you lose all the SEO value you’ve built unless you redirect properly. According to Moz studies, 301 redirects pass 90-99% of link equity from the old URL to the new one, though some research indicates there can be a 15% drop in organic traffic with redirects.

Current Problem Changing URLs without redirects causes 404 errors and lost rankings

Revenue Solution Set up 301 redirects from old URLs to new ones

Implementation

Redirect 301 /old-page.html https://yoursite.com/new-page

Business Impact Say you run an e-commerce site and restructure 150 product URLs with proper redirects. You could maintain 92% of your organic traffic during the transition, which prevents an estimated $45,000 revenue loss.

Technical Requirements

• WordPress users can use Redirection plugin (free)
• Other platforms can edit .htaccess file or use platform tools
• Time needed is 5 minutes per redirect

Practical Example:

❌ Without 301 Redirect: Changing a URL without redirecting can lead to “Page Not Found” errors and a loss of traffic.

✅ With 301 Redirect: Redirecting https://yourwebsiteurl.com/old-url to https://yourwebsiteurl.com/new-url ensures a smooth transition.

13. Folder Structure and Hierarchy

Why It Matters A well-organized folder structure makes it easier for both users and search engines to navigate your website and understand its content hierarchy.

Google’s SEO guidelines emphasize organizing content with logical URL structure that is intelligible to humans.

Current Problem

• yoursite.com/product-a
• yoursite.com/random-service
• yoursite.com/about-contact-info

Revenue Solution

yoursite.com/
├── products/
│   ├── headphones/
│   └── speakers/
├── services/
│   ├── installation/
│   └── support/
└── company/
    ├── about/
    └── contact/

Implementation

• Group related pages in folders
• Keep structure shallow (maximum 3 levels)
• Use descriptive folder names with keywords

Business Impact Say you run a professional services firm and reorganize your URL structure. You could see organic traffic increase 38% over 4 months as search engines better understand your service offerings. Lead generation improves by 67%.

For growing websites Plan your URL structure before scaling to avoid major restructures later.

Website Root
├── blog/
│ ├── seo-tips/
│ ├── content-marketing/
│ └── social-media/
├── products/
│ ├── electronics/
│ │ ├── headphones/
│ │ └── speakers/
│ └── clothing/
└── services/

Pro Tip Use folders to group related content (e.g., /blog/, /products/, /services/). Keep your folder structure shallow (ideally no more than three levels deep) to avoid overly long URLs.

Practical Examples:

✅ Good structure: https://yourwebsiteurl.com/products/mens-clothing/shirts

This URL follows a clear hierarchy, with relevant categories leading to the specific product. You and your visitors can easily understand the structure.

❌ Overly complex structure: https://yourwebsiteurl.com/products/2023/spring/mens/casual/shirts

This URL is too long and has too many levels of folders. It can confuse your visitors and may discourage clicks. Search engines may give more weight to keywords that appear earlier in the URL, which makes this structure less ideal.

14. Dynamic URLs vs. Static URLs

What They Are Dynamic URLs contain parameters that change based on user actions or database queries. Static URLs have fixed addresses.

Why It Matters Static URLs are generally preferred for SEO because they’re easier to read and more descriptive. If you have dynamic URLs, consider rewriting them to be more static whenever possible.

Research shows that shorter URLs are generally more efficient for server processing and improve user experience.

Current Problem yourstore.com/products.php?id=123&color=blue&size=large

Revenue Solution yourstore.com/blue-large-wireless-headphones

Implementation

• Enable URL rewriting on your server
• Use CMS features for pretty permalinks
• For e-commerce platforms, enable SEO URLs in platform settings

Business Impact Say you run an outdoor gear retailer and convert 800+ product URLs from dynamic to static. You could see product page traffic increase 51%, which boosts online sales by $134,000 monthly.

Scaling Strategy Establish static URL patterns before adding inventory to avoid future technical debt.

Practical Examples:

❌ Dynamic URL: https://yourwebsiteurl.com/products.php?id=123&color=blue

This URL includes parameters that change based on the specific product and its attributes. Your visitors cannot easily understand what the page contains, and the URL provides no information about the product.

✅ Static URL: https://yourwebsiteurl.com/products/blue-widget

This URL is clean, readable, and includes relevant keywords. It gives you and your visitors (and search engines) a clear idea of what the page is about.

15. Subdomains vs. Subdirectories

What They Are Subdomains are separate domains that exist under your main domain (e.g., blog.yourwebsiteurl.com). Subdirectories are folders within your main domain (e.g., yourwebsiteurl.com/blog).

Why It Matters There’s debate about which is better for SEO. Subdomains can be treated as separate websites, while subdirectories are seen as part of the main website. The best choice depends on your specific goals and website structure.

For most businesses, subdirectories (yoursite.com/blog) perform better than subdomains (blog.yoursite.com) because they consolidate domain authority.

Current Problem blog.yoursite.com, shop.yoursite.com, support.yoursite.com

Revenue Solution yoursite.com/blog, yoursite.com/shop, yoursite.com/support

Implementation

• Move subdomain content to subdirectories
• Set up 301 redirects from old subdomain URLs
• Update internal links and sitemaps

Business Impact Say you run a SaaS company and move your blog from a subdomain to subdirectory. You could see blog traffic increase 67% over 6 months. This drives 340 additional trial signups worth $204,000 annual value.

When to use subdomains Only for truly separate brands or significantly different user experiences (like a customer portal).

If you want to create a distinct brand identity for a specific section of your website (e.g., a blog or an online store), a subdomain might be a good choice.

If you want to keep all of your content under one domain and leverage the authority of your main website, a subdirectory might be a better option.

16. International SEO and Hreflang Tags

What They Are Hreflang tags are snippets of code that tell search engines which language and region a specific page is intended for.

Why It Matters If you have a multilingual website, hreflang tags help search engines show the right version of your page to the right users, which improves user experience and potentially boosts your SEO in different regions.

If you serve multiple countries or languages, proper international URL structure prevents content cannibalization and improves local rankings.

Implementation Example

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-us" href="https://yoursite.com/us/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-uk" href="https://yoursite.com/uk/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es-mx" href="https://yoursite.com/mx/" />

Business Impact Say you run a B2B software company and implement proper hreflang tags. You could see international organic traffic increase 89%, which generates $78,000 additional annual revenue from European markets.

For small businesses Start with country-specific subdirectories (/us/, /ca/, /uk/) rather than separate domains to build authority faster.

Example Code Snippet:

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-us" href="https://www.example.com/us/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es-es" href="https://www.example.com/es/" />

The hreflang=”en-us” attribute tells search engines that the page is intended for users in the United States who speak English.

The hreflang=”es-es” attribute indicates that the page is meant for users in Spain who speak Spanish.

17. Breadcrumbs

What They Are Breadcrumbs are navigational elements that show the user’s path within a website’s hierarchy.

Why It Matters Breadcrumbs can improve user experience and provide additional context to search engines about the relationship between pages on your site.

Breadcrumbs in URLs help your visitors understand site hierarchy and provide additional keyword context for search engines.

Implementation yoursite.com → products → electronics → headphones → wireless-bluetooth-headphones

Business Impact Say you run an online retailer and add breadcrumb navigation. You could see product page conversions increase 19% as customers better understand product categories and can navigate more easily.

Customer experience impact Your visitors can modify URLs to browse categories, which increases pages per session and purchase likelihood.

Practical Example: Home > Blog > SEO > URL Optimization

The example “Home > Blog > SEO > URL Optimization” shows how breadcrumbs can guide your visitors through your website’s hierarchy. It tells the user that they’re currently on a page about URL optimization, which is a subtopic of SEO, which is a subtopic of the blog section of your website.

18. URL Shorteners

What They Are URL shorteners create shortened versions of long URLs.

Why It Matters While they can be useful for social media sharing, use them with caution. Using them too much can hide the actual destination of the link and may not always pass on full SEO value.

URL shorteners are useful for social media and email but shouldn’t replace your main website URLs for SEO purposes.

When to use shorteners

• Social media posts with character limits
• Email campaigns with tracking
• Offline marketing materials

Business Impact Say you run a local service business and use branded short URLs (bit.ly/yourcompany-promo) in your Yellow Pages ads. You could track 127 additional calls, which generates $38,000 revenue.

What you need Branded shortener account ($20-50/month) for professional appearance and click tracking.

Examples of URL Shorteners: Bitly, TinyURL, Ow.ly

The examples Bitly, TinyURL, and Ow.ly are popular URL shorteners. They can be helpful for social media sharing or when you need to fit a long URL into a limited space. However, it’s best to use them sparingly and only when necessary.

Your Revenue-Focused URL Optimization Checklist A Practical Guide

Let’s make those URLs work harder for you! We’ve compiled the most essential tips and best practices into this handy checklist. Use it as your go-to guide for creating URLs that are both search engine-friendly and user-friendly.

Every optimized URL is a step towards a more visible and successful website.

Ready to get started? Check off each item as you review and update your URLs. Don’t be afraid to revisit this checklist periodically, as SEO best practices can evolve over time.

Here’s your step-by-step implementation guide. Check off each item as you optimize your URLs for better search rankings and more conversions.

Need more guidance? Refer back to the detailed explanations we provided for each item. If you’re still feeling stuck, don’t hesitate to ask for help!

Common URL Mistakes That Are Costing You Money

Your biggest competitor just launched a new site that’s ranking above you for your main keywords. Here’s why their URLs might be beating yours:

❌ Using dates in evergreen content URLs – Makes content appear outdated
❌ Keyword stuffing URLs – Google penalizes obvious over-optimization
❌ Ignoring mobile URL readability – 73% of traffic comes from mobile
❌ Not redirecting changed URLs – Losing all built-up SEO value
❌ Complex folder structures – Confuses both users and search engines

Does changing your existing URLs hurt your SEO? Yes, it can. If you change a URL that’s already indexed by search engines, you risk losing any SEO value it has built up. If you must change a URL, use a 301 redirect to tell search engines where the page has moved.

Can you use numbers in your URLs? Yes, but use them sparingly and only when they make sense. For example, a product number or a year might be appropriate in some cases.

How do you optimize URLs for different languages? Use hreflang tags to tell search engines which pages are meant for which languages. You can also create separate subfolders or subdomains for different languages (e.g., /es/ for Spanish).

What about mobile URLs? Use responsive design so that your website automatically adapts to different screen sizes. This eliminates the need for separate mobile URLs.

Should you include your brand name in your URLs? Including your brand name in URLs is not essential, but it can help with brand recognition and make your URLs more memorable.

Optimizing your URLs is just one piece of the SEO puzzle. However, it’s an important piece that can significantly impact your website’s visibility and traffic.

Tools That Make URL Optimization Profitable

Optimizing your URLs doesn’t have to be a manual, time-consuming task. There are plenty of tools available to help you streamline the process and make the most of your SEO efforts. Here are a few worth checking out:

For WordPress Sites

• Yoast SEO (Free) Warns about URL length and provides optimization suggestions
• Redirection Plugin (Free) Manages 301 redirects easily
• RankMath (Free) Alternative to Yoast with additional URL features

For All Websites

• Screaming Frog SEO Spider ($149/year) Crawls your entire site to identify URL issues
• Google Search Console (Free) Shows which URLs are performing in search results
• Ahrefs ($99/month) Tracks ranking improvements after URL optimization

Business Impact Say you invest $300 in URL optimization tools and generate $47,000 additional revenue within 6 months through improved search rankings.

Yoast SEO (WordPress Plugin) This popular plugin offers a built-in feature for optimizing your URLs as you create or edit pages and posts. It provides suggestions for improving your URLs based on SEO best practices.

Rank Math (WordPress Plugin) Similar to Yoast, Rank Math provides a user-friendly interface for optimizing your URLs and offers real-time feedback on your SEO efforts.

Screaming Frog SEO Spider This powerful desktop tool crawls your website and identifies issues with your URLs, such as broken links, redirects, and duplicate content.

Linkilo (WordPress Plugin) This handy tool helps you optimize your internal linking structure, which is another important aspect of SEO. It suggests relevant internal links as you write and can even automate some of the linking process.

Google Search Console This free tool from Google provides valuable insights into how your website is performing in search results. It can help you identify crawl errors, indexing issues, and other problems that might be affecting your SEO.

These are just a few examples of the many tools available to help you with URL optimization. Experiment with different options and see which ones work best for you and your website.

Transform Your URLs Into Revenue Drivers

Your URLs are more than just addresses for your webpages – they’re a powerful tool for boosting your SEO. Following the simple guidelines we’ve covered, you can make your URLs more informative for search engines, more user-friendly for your audience, and more effective at driving traffic to your site.

The best URLs are:

• Short and descriptive
• Include relevant keywords (but avoid keyword stuffing!)
• Use hyphens to separate words
• Match your page title whenever possible

Your URLs are working for your competitors right now. Every day you delay optimization, you’re handing potential customers to businesses with cleaner, more search-friendly URLs.

The best URL optimization strategy:

1. Start with your highest-traffic pages – Maximum impact for minimum effort
2. Fix technical issues first – Redirects, canonicals, and case consistency
3. Optimize for your money keywords – Pages that directly drive revenue
4. Scale systematically – Apply learnings to new content as you create it

Ready to take action? Here’s your week-one implementation plan:

Monday Audit your top 10 pages’ URLs with Google Analytics and Search Console Tuesday Shorten any URLs over 60 characters
Wednesday Replace underscores with hyphens across your site Thursday Set up 301 redirects for any URLs you changed Friday Monitor traffic changes and plan next week’s optimizations

Say you run a local fitness studio and follow this exact plan. You could see your organic leads increase from 23 to 41 monthly, which adds $18,400 annual revenue. Your class booking page goes from position 8 to position 3 for “fitness classes [your city name]” just by optimizing the URL structure.

What’s the one page URL you could optimize this week to increase sales by 10%?

Don’t let your website get lost in the vastness of the internet. Optimize your URLs today and start seeing the difference!

Ready to take action? Here are a few next steps you can take:

Audit your existing URLs Take a look at your website’s URLs and see if any need improvement.

Make a plan Decide which URLs you’ll change and how you’ll do it.

Implement your changes Update your URLs and make sure to use 301 redirects for any pages that have moved.

Monitor your results Keep an eye on your website’s traffic and rankings to see how your URL optimization efforts are paying off.

Your website visitors are telling you what they want through their behavior. Clean, descriptive URLs build trust before they even click. Optimized URLs help search engines understand your content and rank it appropriately. Both factors directly impact your bottom line.

Don’t let poor URL structure keep costing you money. Start with one page this week, measure the results, and scale what works. Your future revenue depends on taking action today.

So, are you ready to start optimizing your internal linking with WordPress and take your website to new heights? Look no further! Head over to Linkilo pricing page to get started on your URL optimization adventure today. Trust us, you won’t regret it!